We’ve all seen the glossy photos of minimalist, open-plan workspaces that look spectacular in design magazines. Yet when workers actually move in, the feedback in post-occupancy evaluations is often scathing.
Beautiful aesthetic choices frequently result in acoustic disasters that leave occupiers unable to concentrate. Let’s take a closer look at why these design habits persist and how we can fix them.
The Failure of Photogenic Finishes
According to Leesman Index data, only around a third of employees report satisfaction with noise levels at work, and Leesman itself describes noise as a “superdriver” of workplace dissatisfaction.
Architects love exposed concrete, polished screed floors and massive glass facades because they look clean and modern. However, these hard finishes reflect sound waves instead of absorbing them, pushing reverberation well beyond the 0.5 to 0.8 second range that standards like BS 8233 and the BCO Guide to Specification recommend for office environments.
The BCO Guide to Specification provides guidance on ambient noise, sound insulation and reverberation for offices, and post-occupancy work continues to expose the gap between what designers draw and what occupiers actually hear. We design for the camera eye, but people experience space through their ears. If a workspace makes normal conversation carry across the whole floor, the design has failed its primary purpose.
The Myth of the Quiet Glass Box
Another common error is relying on thin glass pods to solve privacy needs. These glass meeting boxes look sleek, but they often leak sound straight through the seals and door frames. Conversations that should be confidential end up broadcast to the entire open floor.
This issue gets worse when designers raise the ceiling to maximise the sense of volume without adding any acoustic compensation. High ceilings look great, but they create a giant echo chamber if the void lacks sound-absorbing materials.
BS ISO 22955:2021 provides clear guidance on acoustic quality in open-plan offices, and the WELL Building Standard Sound concept sets targets for reverberation time, background noise and sound isolation. Ignoring these standards means creating spaces that actively work against the people using them.
Acoustic Specification at Stage 3
For too long, the industry has treated acoustic performance as the contractor’s problem to solve during construction. Designers frequently leave acoustic specifications out of the main package and hand them over to fit-out contractors at RIBA Stage 4. By then, the critical decisions that set the base reverberation times are already locked in, leaving very little room for meaningful adjustments.
Instead of treating sound control as a late addition, we need to address it during the detailed design phase. Specifying premium fabric wrapped acoustic panels at Stage 3 means absorption becomes part of the building’s material language from the start, rather than arriving as a corrective after the fact. They can become feature walls or ceiling clouds that look deliberate, instead of appearing later as visual afterthoughts. This shift ensures the building performs well without ruining the visual concept.
A Practical Path from Brief to Handover
To stop repeating these mistakes, we must embed sound management into every project milestone. An acoustic consultant should join the team during Stage 2 to establish baseline targets before any major layout decisions are finalised.
Here’s the sequence you should follow to ensure acoustic success:
- Appoint an acoustician at Stage 2 to set specific targets based on BS ISO 22955:2021 and the BCO Guide to Specification 2023.
- Map out high-noise and quiet zones early to prevent conflicting adjacencies.
- Integrate sound-absorbing materials into the walls and ceilings during Stage 3 detailed design.
- Review the acoustic seals and detailing of all glazed partitions before signing off Stage 4 packages.
- Test the completed space before handover to check compliance with the original brief.
What Gets Measured Gets Built
Fixating on visual trends at the expense of acoustic comfort simply doesn’t work in the modern office. A successful workspace must support focus and collaboration, which requires equal attention to how a room sounds and how it looks.
By shifting our workflow and addressing acoustics during the early design stages, we can deliver offices that are genuinely functional. Ultimate project success should be measured by how well a space supports the people inside it long after the opening photoshoot is over.
